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Indian mobile market leader to pay 462 million for 2.3-GHz frequencies in eight circles.
Bharti Airtel has brokered a deal to acquire spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band from rival operator Aircel, giving it a pan-Indian presence in the 4G market.
India’s biggest mobile operator on Friday announced that it will pay 35 billion rupees (€462 million) for 20 MHz of 2.3-GHz frequencies in eight telecoms circles.
The spectrum is valid until 20 September 2030, Bharti said in a stock exchange announcement.
"With the above acquisition, Bharti Airtel will become [a] pan-India 4G operator," the statement read.
The transfer of the rights to the spectrum in two of the circles – Andhra Pradesh and Orissa – is subject to the revision of spectrum caps, which will form part of the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT’s) upcoming auction, Bharti said.
The DoT is planning to hold a large-scale, multi-band spectrum auction, including 2.3-GHz airwaves, this summer.
There has been talk of Bharti buying frequencies from Aircel for some time, given the pending arrival of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is working on the rollout of a nationwide 4G service.
Reliance Jio soft-launched its service to company employees in December, but it emerged recently that a full launch might still be some months away, with December this year named as a new target date.
Bharti Airtel had 245.8 million mobile subscribers at the end of January, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), giving it a market share of just over 24%.
